Israeli settlements are blockage to Middle East peace, says Gordon Brown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Andrew Sparrow - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

Israeli settlements on the West Bank represent a "blockage" in the Middle East peace process, Gordon Brown said today. At a news conference in Downing Street with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Brown said he had consistently called for the settlements to be dismantled. Brown and Fayyad spoke before the opening in London of a two-day Palestine trade and investment forum, which is intended to promote Palestinian economic development.

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Palestinian Charity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from WBUR
by Robin Young - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

American Charities for Palestine founder Dr. Ziad Asali was interviewed by host Robin Young on WBUR’s “Here and Now” program, December 15, 2008.

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Business can help unlock Palestine’s potential
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Salam Fayyad - (Opinion) December 14, 2008 - 1:00am

A full year after the Annapolis process began and with only two weeks before the end of 2008 – the target date for reaching a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli agreement – one cannot but be disappointed that Palestinians and Israelis have yet to reach their shared goal of lasting peace. We Palestinians had also hoped that we would have had more to show on the ground for our commitment to the peace process.

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US-Palestinian Partnership Visits West Bank to Support Education and Economic Initiatives
Press Release - Contact Information: Omar Tuffaha - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

In mid-November, U.S.-Palestinian Partnership co-chairs, Ziad Asali and Jean Case, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman led a delegation to the West Bank and Israel to announce the Partnership's accomplishments to date and explore future opportunities. The delegation participated in the opening of a Youth Development and Resource Center (YDRC) in the village of Beita.


Palestinian PM: Settlement building will destroy peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - November 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Salam Fayyad called on the international community to up the pressure on Israel to suspend all construction in the settlements and implied that the Palestinian Authority could apply to the International Court of Justice in this regard, adopting the example of the separation fence.

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U.S.-Palestinian Partnership Leaders to Travel to the West Bank
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - November 12, 2008 - 1:00am

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman, together with American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad Asali and Case Foundation CEO Jean Case, will lead a delegation to the West Bank from November 15 through 18. As co-chairs of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership (UPP), they will attend the inauguration of a youth development and resource center in the village of Beita. This is the first of four youth development and resource centers that UPP is working to expand with the support of the U.S.


PA Prime Minister Fayyad Interviewed on Economy, Debt Payments, Future Projects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by Ja'far Sadaqah - November 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

[Sadaqah] In a few hours, the Palestinian Authority [PA] will have finished paying all its debts to the employees and others. What does it mean to get rid of a legacy that has been bothering it for 16 months, and what does this mean to you?

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Rice Visits West Bank City; U.S. Announces Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 7, 2008 - 8:00pm

In the first visit by an American secretary of state to the city of Jenin, a once-infamous hub of Palestinian militancy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to strike a positive chord at the close of what will probably be her last official trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Ms. Rice has acknowledged that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is unlikely to achieve its goal of an agreement by the end of the year and has devoted this trip to other aspects of the process, chiefly the building of reliable Palestinian institutions in preparation for a state.

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World Bank: Palestinian economy could flourish if Israel eased restrictions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Palestinian economy has "incredible potential" that could be unleashed if Israel eases restrictions on Palestinian movement, the area's World Bank chief said Wednesday, a day after a high-level World Bank delegation inaugurated a sewage storage facility in a rare trip to Hamas-ruled Gaza.

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Advance the dialogue regardless of transition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Gilead Sher - November 2, 2008 - 8:00pm

Global challenges of economy and security become an ever-growing concern in transition periods such as the present one. In that context, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other geopolitical developments in the Middle East represent a myriad of problems of leadership, legitimacy, continuity and practicability. The concurrent transition among the terms in office of the relevant actors in the arena--the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority--should be meticulously prepared for.

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